Weatherstrip



Oct. 8, 1963 c. E. WHITE wEAmERsTRIP Filed Aug. 19. 1960 CHARLES EWH/ TE INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS States 3,106,422 wnArHnnsrnrr i Charles E. White, Allen Park, Mich., assignor to Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Mich., a corporation of t Delaware Y Filed Aug. 19, 1960,*Ser. No. 57,097

2 Claims. (El. 296-93) headers to prevent the entrance of water, air and otherV foreign material into the vehicle interior. Conventionally, a strip of resilient material is fastened to the top header to serve this purpose. Ideally,tthe adjacent header surfaces would be completely parallel and freefrorn any surface irregularities and thus form a positive seal.

`In production the cost of forming such surfaces is prohibitive and inadequatel sealing results even with the use of a resilient member.

An object of this invention isto provide an improved sealing device which will provide a positive seal between the two header members and which can yeasily be adjusted during installation to compensate for irregularities in shape of the surfaces to be sealed.

This invention contemplates the use of a seal which incorporates an elongated retainerV member formed of a material which can easily be premanently deformed. In the completed seal the 'retainer member has adjacent to its one side a body of resilient material. This body of resilient material extends around the retainer at one edge thereof and extends along the other side of the retainer for a portion of its width. The retainer and resilient 3,106,422 ?atenteei Get. 8, 1963 -or securedtogether in some other suitablev fashion. A

decorative chrome plated sheet'inetal enclosure, 17 encircles the windshield header 12.

` lThe top header, generally indicated at 22, is cornposed of upper and lower sheet metal sections 1S and 19 welded or otherwise fastened together. A body of weatherstrip material 2li is incorporated in the area 21 .formed in the top header member 19. An external weatherstrip 23 is securedv to the top header by screws (not shown) or by other suitable means.

The novel seal embodying the present invention is shown generally at 2d. This seal includes a body of resilient material 3d, preferably formed of extruded rubber, best shown in FIGURE 3. This body is formed with two surfaces 2S 'and '26 which abut the underside of the top header assembly. Surface 27 of the body is adapted to contact surface 29 of the windshield header to form a seal therewith. Surface 27 includes one ormore Vribs 28 to provide additional sealing action. A cavity Y ber 34 is a deformable strip of material, preferably sheet body are secured near the other edge to one of the headj i ers. The portion of the resilient body extending along the other side of the retainer is adjacent the other header. The` retainer may be deformed or bent, as desired, to bring these surfaces into more intimate contact and thereby compensate for irregularities in the shape of the adjacent headers. are formed in the resilient body adjacent one of the headers, and a cavity is formed in that portion of the resilient body to allow even greater flexibility. In operation, the ribs are slightly deiiected and thebody is slightly compressed. v In this way Va positiveseal is maintained between the adjacent surfaces at all times.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be I i made more apparent as thisdescription proceeds, particularly when considered inrconnection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FlGURE 1 is a partial view oi a vehicle incorporating this invention,

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2 2 of FIGURE l, and, f

FIGURE 3 is a cross sectional View showing,"in detail,

the shape of the resilient body, which comprises a part ofthe seal in its free form. j Y Y Referring now to the drawings, and in particularto FiGURE l, a motor vehicle is shown generally at which incorporates a convertable top 11 adapted to be suitably secured by means of a conventional header lock mechanism (not shown) in its closed position to the header 12 of windshield v13|.

The sealingstructure to which this invention relates, may best be seen by reference to FIGURE 2. `The windshield 13 is supported in the windshield header structure, generally indicated at 12 by means of rubber weatherstrip 14.` The windshield header isforrned oi' upper and lower sheet metal sections and 16 which are welded To insure even greater sealing action, ribs steel, which runs along the length of body 3h and is illustrated as being formed of two sections 41 and 42 which join each other at an obtuse angle. One side 35 of the retainer 34 is entirely contacted by the resilient body 30. Body surrounds one end of the retainer and contacts a portion 36 of the other side of retainer 34. As may be seen from FGURE 3, channel 32 in body 3l) is formed with converging side walls to provide an opening of a lesser dimension than `of the thickness of retainer 34. In this way, these members are held securely together when assembled. It desired, these members may be bonded together or secured by some other means in addition to the force tit.

Seal assembly 24 is secured near one edge 37 thereof to the top header 22 by means of screws 33, only one of which is shown, or by other suitable fastening means. This insures a positive seal between member 3i) and the top header structure at area 3g.

Once the structure is completely assembled and the convertible top is in place, as shown in FIGURE 2, the seal along surface '29 may not be perfect due to irregularities in the shape of this surface. Once the areas of inadequate seal are found by some suitable test, the seal can easily be corrected. To accomplish this, the retainer strip is deforme-d in such a way that the surface 27 andthe ribs 28 of Ithe body are brought closer to surface 29. This may easily be done by lifting the top header olf of the windshield header, and then bending the leading edge of the retainer strip away from the top header.V vOne suitableway in which this can be done is =by linser-tion of a at blade tool between the front weatherstrip 23 and the iront e-dgeof seal assembly 24. The front or leading edge portion 33, 'of strip 34 may then be `deformed toward the windshield header. 'Ihis will, in turn, bring the seal surface 27 and ribs 28 into intimate contact 'with t-he surface 29 once the retractable top is again in its closed position. This adjustment takes place over a small area so that 4the seal at other points is not affected. v

it can thus be vseen that this invention provides for motor vehicles utilizing convertible tops a positive seal at the top and windshield header sur'aces, even though these surfaces may not be perfectly formed.

It will be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the exact construction shown and described, but that various modifications lmay be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention described in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a vehicle body having a foldable top, a windshield header, a top header adapted to overlie said windshield header in extended position of said top, a compression type weatherstrip carried on one of said headers and compressible between said headers to effect -a seal between facing surfaces thereof, said weatherstrip comprising a longitudinally extending base portion, a longitudinally extending base portion, a longitudinally extending flange portion integral with one edge of said base portion, and a compression portion integral with the other edge of said base portion and extending thereover ltoward said one edge, an elongated retention strip of deformable material having a base portion and an integral flange por-tion, said retention strip base portion being inserted 'between said weatherstrip base and compression portions, and fastening means projecting through said flange portions into the surface of said one header to retain said weatherstrip thereon, said weatherstrip ange portion thereby also being held in sealing engagement with the surface of said one header, ysaid retention strip being deformable toward the facing surface of said other header to ensure intimate sealing Contact of said compression portion with said other header along the length thereof.

2. In a vehicle body having a foldable top, a windshield header, a top header adapted to overlie said windshield header in extended position of said top, a compression type Weatherstrip carried on said t-op header and compressible between said headers to effect a seal between facing surfaces thereof, said weatherstrip comprising a longitudinally extending base portion, a longitudinally extending flange portion integral with one edge of said base portion 4and extending at an angle thereto, and a compression portion integral with the other edge of said CII base portion and extending thereover toward said one edge, said compression portion having an irregularly shaped cavity extending therethrough whereby said compression portion is a tube of irregular internal configuration, an elongated retention strip of deformable material having a `base portion and an integral flange portion extending at an angle thereto, the angular relationship of said retention strip base por-tion and its flange being complementary to the angular relationship of said Weatherstrip base portion and `its flange, said retention strip base portion being inserted between said weatherstrip base and compression portions, and -fastening means projecting through said flange portions into the surface of said top header to retain said weather-strip thereon, said weatherstrip flange portion thereby also [being held in sealing engagement with the surface of said top header, said retention strip being deformable toward the facing surface of said windshield header to insure intimate sealing contact of said compression portion with said windshield header along the length thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,498,851 Doty Feb. 28, `1950 2,528,705 Norrish Nov. 7, 1950 2,622,286 Beck Dec. 23, 1952 2,687,914 Schrum Aug. 31, 1954 2,737,412 Smith et al. Mar. 6, 1956 2,774,999 Mansmann Dec. 25, 1956 2,817,558 Kubacka et al Dec. 24, 1957 2,993,731 Miles July 25, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 725,374 Germany Sept. 21, 1942 1,145,292 France May 6, 1957 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Pa tent No. 3, 106,422 October 8, 1963 Charles E. White It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 3, lines IO and 1l, strike out "a longitudinally extending base portion,".

Signed and sealed this 14th day of April 1964.

(SEAL) Attest: EDWARD J. BRENNER ERNEST W. SWIDER Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

1. IN A VEHICLE BODY HAVING A FOLDABLE TOP, A WINDSHIELD HEADER, A TOP HEADER ADAPTED TO OVERLIE SAID WINDSHIELD HEADER IN EXTENDED POSITION OF SAID TOP, A COMPRESSION TYPE WEATHERSTRIP CARRIED ON ONE OF SAID HEADERS AND COMPRESSIBLE BETWEEN SAID HEADERS TO EFFECT A SEAL BETWEEN FACING SURFACES THEREOF, SAID WEATHERSTRIP COMPRISING A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING BASE PORTION, A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING BASE PORTION, A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING FLANGE PORTION INTEGRAL WITH ONE EDGE OF SAID BASE PORTION, AND A COMPRESSION PORTION INTEGRAL WITH THE OTHER EDGE OF SAID BASE PORTION AND EXTENDING THEREOVER TOWARD SAID ONE EDGE, AN ELONGATED RETENTION STRIP OF DEFORMABLE MATERIAL HAVING A BASE PORTION AND AN INTEGRAL FLANGE PORTION, SAID RETENTION STRIP BASE PORTION BEING INSERTED BETWEEN SAID WEATHERSTRIP BASE AND COMPRESSION PORTIONS, AND FASTENING MEANS PROJECTING THROUGH SAID FLANGE PORTIONS INTO THE SURFACE OF SAID ONE HEADER TO RETAIN SAID WEATHERSTRIP THEREON, SAID WEATHER STRIP FLANGE PORTION THEREBY ALSO BEING HELD IN SEALING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE SURFACE OF SAID ONE HEADER, SAID RETENTION STRIP BEING DEFORMABLE TOWARD THE FACING SURFACE OF SAID OTHER HEADER TO ENSURE INTIMATE SEALING CONTACT OF SAID COMPRESSION PORTION WITH SAID OTHER HEADER ALONG THE LENGTH THEREOF. 